Christina,

A feasibility study is a particular type of research report in which the author attempts to show, with little or no actual development effort,

Assignment Sheet:

Feasibility Study on the Use of the UP3 Board

as a Digital Pattern Generator

ECE 2031: Digital Design Laboratory

Length: Body of report not to exceed 10 pages

Point Distribution: 500 points

Report Due Date: Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 (in your lab section)

Required Consultations: 9/15 – 9/26 (students are required to sign up for an

appointment with their GTA to review a FULL rough draft of

the report; you will receive more info about scheduling an

appointment in lab the week of 9/8)

Background Information:

A digital pattern generator is an instrument that is used to output time-varying digital patterns (parallel bits, or ―words‖). A user can specify the patterns and the rate at which they change. For example, one

such pattern could be four bits that count 0000, 0001, 0010, 0011, …, 1111, 0000, 0001,…at a specified

rate of 1 MHz (where the count changes every microsecond). A reasonable definition of a digital pattern

generator with more detail can be found in the Wikipedia entry at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_pattern_generator

Read that description before continuing.

A feasibility study is a particular type of research report in which the author attempts to show, with little

or no actual development effort, that something is possible. It typically relies upon thorough study of

applicable prior work in the area, and a complete knowledge of problem constraints. The purpose of a

feasibility study is often to lay the groundwork for a full proposal to begin development. For example,

Georgia Power might be interested in whether it is possible to build a geothermal power plant in north

Georgia, so they might direct an engineer to write a feasibility study. The engineer would have some

section shows the reader that you are up-to-date on the subject and that you have done the research

necessary to present the findings.

Alternatives and Rationale: This is where you present your technical findings. In this section, you will explain what is feasible in terms of the use of the UP3 board as a digital pattern generator. Your

discussion will include the number of bits, how fast they can change, and how sophisticated the user

interface can be. In this section, you will present and evaluate the alternative(s) and explain why they

work. Anytime you can show information rather than write about it, do so. Figures, tables, and diagrams

are key elements of all technical reports. You may be wondering if we want you to present more than one

alternative. It's up to you. If you think all expected variations are generally similar, then describe it as a

single alternative. But if you see more than one distinctly different approach, with no reason to discard

the additional ones, it would be worth describing them. And this places some burden on you of listing

some of the merits and disadvantages of each, WITHOUT going into the exhaustive detail of making a

choice as you would do in a proposal.

Conclusions: The Conclusions section is not a recap of the report. This section answers the question,

―What can I conclude about these findings?‖ That is, what is the significance of the findings. In a

feasibility report, you are answering whether or not something is possible. The answer should be stated

explicitly and should include a brief summary of the alternative(s). You will NOT recommend any

particular alternative. This is a feasibility study, not a proposal or recommendation report.

DON’T FORGET:

?When in doubt, ask! Dr. Collins and I and the GTA writing consultants are available to help you

with this and all writing assignments in this course.

?WARNING—Do not plagiarize! Without proper attribution, you should not copy definitions or

explanations of key concepts (or anything else for that matter) from websites, textbooks used in

previous courses, the lab manual, your friends or fellow classmates, or any other sources. If you do

use any information from any source, you must cite the source using IEEE documentation guidelines.

A link to the IEEE website is available on the UPCP 2031 page.

?The Executive Summary is the only section of the report on a separate page. All other sections are

continuous. Begin the Introduction on page 2; if the Introduction runs a page and a half, begin the

Background section immediately after the last paragraph of the Introduction by double spacing and

placing a heading, bold, flush left.

?Use 11 or 12-point font and double-space the entire report.

?Proofread your report carefully! Spell check!

?GTA writing consultants are available to assist you during any stage in the writing process. Please

make use of these very valuable resources. All GTAs hold office hours in the Professional

Communication Studio, Van Leer 448. You can make appointments through TutorTrac. GTAs will

go over the process of scheduling a consultation in lab next week. YOU WILL LOSE POINTS IF

YOU DO NOT SCHEDULE AND ATTEND A CONSULTATION WITH A GOOD DRAFT IN

HAND. Realize that this class is large. Do not wait until the last minute to seek help – there may be